Northeast Portland Speakeasy Dean's Scene Closed

UPDATE: Dean Pottle Warned By OLCC in Letter Dated December 9

UPDATE February 3, 1:26 pm: Dean Pottle was warned about making more beer than allowed by law and accepting "financial consideration" for beer without a license almost two months ago, according to a letter Willamette Week obtained from the OLCC.

The letter was hand-delivered to Pottle, who homebrews beer for Dean's Scene, a basement bar on Northeast Fremont Street, on December 9, 2013. As of Saturday, February 1, Dean's Scene is closed. According to spokeswoman Christie Scott, the OLCC received a complaint about Pottle, leading OLCC officers to visit his basement bar undercover. The letter was intended as a warning.

"We don't shut a business down," Scott says. "We certainly can't close down his home. If he wants to brew beer and give it to people out of the goodness of his heart, he is free to do so... We asked him not to charge people money."

The letter sent to Pottle can be found here. The paragraph quoted below from that letter references an article published in Willamette Week on the same day that Pottle's speakeasy appeared on a national television show. That article listed Pottle's opening hours, which are also listed on his Yelp page.

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) has
received information that alleges that you hosted an unlicensed event at the listed
address. Per an article in the Willamette Week, your business is regularly open on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday to the public. We have also received information that alleges that you are brewing homemade beer over the allotted amount per year. Per your statement, you have said you are brewing “30 gallons of beer” every Friday or Friday/Saturday. This amount of alcoholic beverages adds up to 1,560 gallons a year. We want you to know about the laws pertaining to selling or serving alcohol without a liquor license:

A comment appended to the Microsoft Word file: "Since we’re not charging them, we’re not determining whether the information is accurate, we’re just warning them about the consequences of unlicensed events."

Pottle applied to the OLCC for a home brewers' and private-club license on January 16, prior to the more recent OLCC visits.

ORIGINAL STORY: Sunday, Feb. 2, 12:53 p.m:

As of February 1, Dean Pottle's Northeast Fremont speakeasy and home brewery Dean's Scene is closed.

"We're closed. The OLCC raided me twice this week," Pottle said when reached by telephone, before refusing to speak further. Pottle credits, in part, an article about Dean's Scene in Willamette Week for the Oregon Liquor Control Commission's attention to his home bar, which did not sell beer but did accept donations, and allowed patrons to serve themselves.

Dean's Scene was also recently featured on an episode of Esquire Network’s Brew Dogs–filmed before WW wrote about the speakeasy–and both the police and the OLCC had already visited in the past. Dean's Scene has been open, intermittently, at Pottle's home for over seven years.

On January 16, Dean Pottle applied with the OLCC for a liquor license as a brewery and full-service private club. This license would allow Pottle to serve liquor, and would require that Pottle also serve food at Dean's Scene.